Lights for Tikes lights up community spirits
SHERBURNE – The charity organization Lights for Tikes is spreading the Christmas spirit through its annual holiday attraction at 11 Church Street in Sherburne from Nov. 29 at 5:30 p.m. through Dec. 29 at 9:30 p.m. Donations collected by Lights for Tikes this holiday season will be used for Megan Viera, a Sherburne teen who suffered severe injuries after being in a car accident.
Megan Viera was a passenger in a two-car accident on August 8 in Eaton. Viera was a passenger of Cody M. Smith’s vehicle, one of the cars in the accident. Smith was driving south on Cole Rd. with three passengers and failed to stop at the intersection where Cole Rd. and State Route 26 meet. Smith’s car was struck by Sarah E. Rickey’s, 49, Iowa City, Iowa, vehicle heading north on State Route 26. All five people in the accident had injuries and went to the hospital, but Viera was in the most serious condition.
Viera was airlifted by helicopter to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse. She was 18 years old at the time of the accident and had just graduated from high school a few months before. She endured a traumatic brain injury as a result of the accident.
“They removed part of the right side of Megan’s skull to relieve pressure,” said Rick Crowell, founder and organizer of Lights for Tikes. “She just started talking last week. She could not speak up until then. It was exciting, because you could tell she was frustrated with not being able to communicate. I was jumping up and down in church when I heard the news.”
Viera’s next goal is to be able to walk again.
Viera is in need of surgery, medical procedures, rehabilitation and physical therapy for her sustained injuries. The goal of this year’s Lights for Tikes event is to help Viera and her family with the expensive medical costs.
“You name it. She needs everything. There is still so much they have to do for her to recover,” said Crowell.
The Lights for Tikes holiday attraction displays over 45,000 Christmas lights, synchronized to modern upbeat Christmas music. The lights twinkle, fade and dance with the music. “People can even turn their radio to 107.5 FM to listen to the music while they are looking at the lights from the warmth of their car,” said Crowell. All the lights turn on at sundown, but the lights surrounding Viera’s donation box are lit day and night.
“There are eight control boxes with 16 channels and 120 sets of lights for each control. It’s over 160 hours of programming work. You have to program every fifth of a second for 128 channels down the board, all the way through the end of each song,” said Crowell.
Fay and Kris Kovack, Veira’s aunt and uncle, host the event on their house, yard and trees. The Kobacks’ neighbor, Chenango County Supreme Court Judge Kevin Dowd, even offered his yard to be decorated for the charity this year.
“Megan’s aunt, Fay, gave her whole Christmas bonus to the community last year. She gave Sherburne Elementary snacks for low-income children. She paid for people’s laundry at the local laundry mat and their car washes at the local car wash in Sherburne. She did several things like this anonymously. I do not even know what all she did. These are the kind of people that are part of Megan’s family,” said Crowell.
Crowell established Lights for Tikes as a hobby. He started and continues to run the charity out of his own pocket. He only had 4,000 light bulbs at the time. Crowell enjoyed decorating for Christmas and decided to find a way to use his hobby for a good cause. “Why do all that work for nothing? If it can help someone, then why not do it?” said Crowell. The first cause Crowell’s charity supported was raising food for the less fortunate.
“Then I realized that there was more and more kids in Sherburne and the surrounding areas that needed medical help,” said Crowell. Lights for Tikes first medical fundraiser rose over $6,000 for Addison Manwarren, a 10-month-old infant that needed a heart transplant.
Crowell also went to Ft. Lauderdale, FL and strung half a million lights on a local church to support the troops. “We didn’t report it to Guinness, but we actually broke a world record for the most Christmas lights,” said Crowell.
Crowell is planning on doing another event next year and wants to expand. He hopes to make Lights for Tikes an official nonprofit in the future.
“The payment for me is getting to see the different ages and types of people that participate. It’s seeing them smile. It brightens up people’s holidays. Two older people in their 80’s were dancing to the music and making people laugh. I have seen poor kids break open their banks and give what they have to someone else,” said Crowell.
Crowell is living up to his goal of helping people in need and bringing joy to their holidays. He said that people should support this year’s Lights for Tikes for Megan Viera because, “If it was my child, I would appreciate it. You just don’t know until it happens to you.”
To learn more about Lights for Tikes, visit facebook.com/lights4tikes, and to learn more about Megan Viera, visit facebook.com/vierastrong.
Megan Viera was a passenger in a two-car accident on August 8 in Eaton. Viera was a passenger of Cody M. Smith’s vehicle, one of the cars in the accident. Smith was driving south on Cole Rd. with three passengers and failed to stop at the intersection where Cole Rd. and State Route 26 meet. Smith’s car was struck by Sarah E. Rickey’s, 49, Iowa City, Iowa, vehicle heading north on State Route 26. All five people in the accident had injuries and went to the hospital, but Viera was in the most serious condition.
Viera was airlifted by helicopter to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse. She was 18 years old at the time of the accident and had just graduated from high school a few months before. She endured a traumatic brain injury as a result of the accident.
“They removed part of the right side of Megan’s skull to relieve pressure,” said Rick Crowell, founder and organizer of Lights for Tikes. “She just started talking last week. She could not speak up until then. It was exciting, because you could tell she was frustrated with not being able to communicate. I was jumping up and down in church when I heard the news.”
Viera’s next goal is to be able to walk again.
Viera is in need of surgery, medical procedures, rehabilitation and physical therapy for her sustained injuries. The goal of this year’s Lights for Tikes event is to help Viera and her family with the expensive medical costs.
“You name it. She needs everything. There is still so much they have to do for her to recover,” said Crowell.
The Lights for Tikes holiday attraction displays over 45,000 Christmas lights, synchronized to modern upbeat Christmas music. The lights twinkle, fade and dance with the music. “People can even turn their radio to 107.5 FM to listen to the music while they are looking at the lights from the warmth of their car,” said Crowell. All the lights turn on at sundown, but the lights surrounding Viera’s donation box are lit day and night.
“There are eight control boxes with 16 channels and 120 sets of lights for each control. It’s over 160 hours of programming work. You have to program every fifth of a second for 128 channels down the board, all the way through the end of each song,” said Crowell.
Fay and Kris Kovack, Veira’s aunt and uncle, host the event on their house, yard and trees. The Kobacks’ neighbor, Chenango County Supreme Court Judge Kevin Dowd, even offered his yard to be decorated for the charity this year.
“Megan’s aunt, Fay, gave her whole Christmas bonus to the community last year. She gave Sherburne Elementary snacks for low-income children. She paid for people’s laundry at the local laundry mat and their car washes at the local car wash in Sherburne. She did several things like this anonymously. I do not even know what all she did. These are the kind of people that are part of Megan’s family,” said Crowell.
Crowell established Lights for Tikes as a hobby. He started and continues to run the charity out of his own pocket. He only had 4,000 light bulbs at the time. Crowell enjoyed decorating for Christmas and decided to find a way to use his hobby for a good cause. “Why do all that work for nothing? If it can help someone, then why not do it?” said Crowell. The first cause Crowell’s charity supported was raising food for the less fortunate.
“Then I realized that there was more and more kids in Sherburne and the surrounding areas that needed medical help,” said Crowell. Lights for Tikes first medical fundraiser rose over $6,000 for Addison Manwarren, a 10-month-old infant that needed a heart transplant.
Crowell also went to Ft. Lauderdale, FL and strung half a million lights on a local church to support the troops. “We didn’t report it to Guinness, but we actually broke a world record for the most Christmas lights,” said Crowell.
Crowell is planning on doing another event next year and wants to expand. He hopes to make Lights for Tikes an official nonprofit in the future.
“The payment for me is getting to see the different ages and types of people that participate. It’s seeing them smile. It brightens up people’s holidays. Two older people in their 80’s were dancing to the music and making people laugh. I have seen poor kids break open their banks and give what they have to someone else,” said Crowell.
Crowell is living up to his goal of helping people in need and bringing joy to their holidays. He said that people should support this year’s Lights for Tikes for Megan Viera because, “If it was my child, I would appreciate it. You just don’t know until it happens to you.”
To learn more about Lights for Tikes, visit facebook.com/lights4tikes, and to learn more about Megan Viera, visit facebook.com/vierastrong.
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